Secrets of the Harem
by Michiko Mokuyaba
Summary: Kagome, a young, beautiful Harem girl dispises the thought of being in a Harem. As she's coming of age something wonderful happens, then a pesky half demon we all know and love comes to mess that up. AU
1. Kagome's thoughts

**Disclaimer: As I'm sure my readers know by now, I own no part of InuYasha, other than some of the books…**

_ Fear, pain, darkness, anger, death…_

Slowly the vision became clearly, slightly. At first it had simply been instinct identifying it, but now there were colors. Colors, and sound…

A woman clad in a sari was sprawled out on the ground, her midnight-black hair in a chaotic, every-which-way kind of 'pattern'. Behind her there was a bundle of blankets, that, despite her fear, she seemed to be trying to protect.

"Kagome's my daughter!" She screamed. Her brown eyes fluttered open and shut. It was clear that this woman's name was something rather exotic, and that it was strange. Something starting with a 'k', perhaps… "You will not take her from me as long as I live!"

Lightning flashed, illuminating the figure clad in black armor. This figure was holding a long, extremely sharp sword. The woman swallowed as the sword pressed against her rather elegant neck. Even under the helmet it could be seen that a sickening, blood-curdling grin was forming on the man's face, showing fangs.

"Death will loosen your grip, then. And as you know, betrayers die, Kikyo." Said the man in a voice that sounded rather like velvet, and made all fear melt away, made it want to be forgotten. It made you want to drown in the sound of it.

The woman screamed, but it was cut off by the sound of gurgling, and as the blood started to cover her, the instinct feeling came back as detail washed away...

_Escape, hurry, evade, ANYTHING!_

…

Kagome sat bold upright, shaking herself out of her dream state. Cold sweat trickled down her sides, tickling her, and making her want to move, though she feared she might wake the others in the room. Her breathing was rapid, but her heart was pounding even faster in its shell. She looked around the gloomy, dank room. She smiled the relief as she saw her surroundings. She was where she had been all her life, in the Emperor's Harem. She touched her chest lightly, as if that would make her heart slow its pase. She lay back down, her mind buzzing. She'd been having that same dream a few nights, and it left her unnerved, and unhappy. She couldn't understand why she was having that dream, though. She knew who her mother was, her mother's name was Ai Higurashi, and she was a Harem girl, along with _her_ mother, as long as the line was recorded. They were always bred with other men so that royalty didn't risk creating a deformed child. Her breathing was even now, and the tips of her fingers, and toes had stopped tingling. She sighed heavily. She always got emotional when the other Harem girls got their night in shining armor. Just recently her best friend Yuka had been bought but her secret lover, and they'd gotten married. Kagome had kind of liked her boyfriend, he seemed like a nice enough guy, but he was boring. She tried for a moment to place hit name. Hajhon? Hako? Houjo? Ah, Hojo, that was it. She longed for romance so that she could get out of the godforsaken Harem before she was old enough to actually count as a Harem girl, but that wasn't going to happen. Today was her fifteenth birthday, and that was the 'coming of age'. Kagome sighed, and tried to go back to bed. Anything was better to think about than what she was going to have to do every few days…

…

Sunlight filtered through the high windows in the Harem. The windows were high, and stained glass. It was new to color glass and make patterned windows, and the Harem was one of the only placed that had these windows yet. The women, and younger girls all marveled at it still as the flecks of light found their way down in chips, and bits of different colors. The patterns were lost in the radiance of the colors, and texture, but if you stood and stared at the window long enough you might be able to figure it out. No one in the Harem had done this yet.

A couple of women were practicing – and instructing others – belly dancing. It was fascinating to watch, really. Kagome couldn't remember her mother, but she was told over and over that Ai had been a pro, and they could never understand why Kagome had not gotten Ai's feet. Instead she'd received clumsy feet, _and_ hands! It was rather unfair. It was her turn right now to be instructed. She wasn't awful, but she kept stumbling as she shifted her wait to move, of she made a sudden movement. She nearly lost her balance once or twice, but she'd gotten better at incorporating that into her dance so that it was barely noticeable. The instructor, Eri, notice. Eri had a heart-shaped face, framed by short-cut black hair giving her a very nice face, but she had her way of manipulation, and one of the more subtle ways was to hit you with a ruler, which she did at that moment. Kagome shot her a glare, but didn't break her step. Eri wasn't really an instructor; she was simply better than ever other girl. She was a few months younger than Kagome, and Kagome resented her every time she corrected her. It mainly had to do with the culture, however few of the women here had been outside enough to know the culture.

Kagome always felt guilty, and relived when she practiced with Ayumi, however. Ayumi was a sweet-faced girl, who was prettier that Eri or Kagome, but seemed to have no control over her own body. Her hair was slightly wavy, and a lighter brown than anyone else's. Her eyes glimmered more, and generally she seemed more desirable, but she could hardly stand on her own, let alone belly dance! The poor girl was nearly hopeless. She would sway her hips and flail her arms just to stay upright. Eri would have her arm sore after how many time she smacked Ayumi, and would have no time to hit Kagome, however Kagome never wanted to watch Ayumi get hit that much.

Aside from this practice, all these girls were rather close friends. You have to be close with someone in the Harem if you're there. After all, you hardly see anyone else at all…

Yuka had been part of that little circle, and Kagome had quite enjoyed her, because Yuka was generally more compatible with her, but that girl was always distant, and now they knew why.

Then it happened… Kagome felt light prickles in the back of her neck, and felt an ominous wind blow as the Harem doors were thrown open. A smooth, easy to get along with voice spoke, but Kagome couldn't make out the words. She knew that they were to bow, which everyone in the Harem did. However Kagome Had developed a way to look even from this position. She saw one of the senior women rise and speak with the man. Kagome's eyes flickered to Eri, who was looking at her. They had a sort of facial language. Eri motioned with her eyes to the man, and raised her eyebrows. That meant 'what are they talking about'. Kagome made a sort of facial shrug, and continued to watch. The woman pointed in her general direction and muttered something else.

"Higurashi!" Came a voice. Kagome rose in a jolt, her body moving of its own accord.

"Yes, O great lord?" She asked. The man looked shocked, and took a step back. There were several ways to say that, and he seemed to be expecting 'Your reverence', or 'O Most Powerful Of men', which were more common. Kagome didn't let her confusion show through to her face, though.

"How old are you?" He asked. Kagome hesitated.

"I am fifteen today, O vigilant slayer of evil!" She said. The man seemed to have to resist taking another step back. Kagome's eyes blazed blue.

Something she was never really sure of. Generally her eyes were brown, but on occasion they turned blue. There was no good reason for that, really…

The man cleared his throat. "Come with me." He said. He turned and began walking.

With one last look back at her friends, she followed. Ayumi didn't realize what was going on. She could be dense… But Eri looked sympathetic to her and nodded sadly.

Generally the Harem girls made new friends once they were used. They abandoned their old friends. Kagome sighed, and followed the man through the long corridors.

_I never want that to happen to me… I _like_ my friends…_

**End Chapter One**

Hope you like it… It's kinda slow, I admit, but this is the first chapter, after all… Well, tell me what you think!

Miko-Chan


	2. In and Out

**Di****sclamer: **I own nothing of InuYasha that you would care about, you're just gonna have to trust me on that one. This plot, and world, and mine, however.

* * *

_You will stay here for the night,_ Kagome had been told. She had to admit, these lodgings were a step up from what she was used to. She smiled around to room, doing her best to hide her fear, even from herself. There was a bed – A real bed! Not some stupid layout futon. There were expensive maroon and golden covered coverings on the bed, and curtains, giving the illusion of another room, which the bed might very well have been, after all, it _was_ big enough… When Kagome got closer to the bed she realized that all the comforters and thick sheet-like-things were made of velvet or silk. The curtains were silk woven so thin she could actually see through it with no trouble at all. They too were golden. She hadn't even begun to marvel at the rest of the room yet. She smiled, and went over to her dressing table. There were several bottles with labels Kagome couldn't read, and a brush to apply makeup with, as well as one to use in her hair. There was a bathroom she hadn't even gotten to yet at the other side of the room, and another door that she wasn't sure what was.

She heard a sigh come from the other side of the door she'd entered through, but ignored it. Of course she had a guard.

She went back to exploring her new home.

There was an armoire that was made of a deep, rich wood, stained an even darker color than it had been originally, and it too up the whole niche it was in. It had a mirror that had been carefully worked so it wouldn't be warped at all, and Kagome was amazed. She'd never seen a mirror like this one.

There was a couch-like-thing, for lack of a better description, across the room from the bed. It had layers upon layers of fine silk, the over all affect was that it was soft, looked unreal, and glittered every color at once. Its frame was made of the same wood as the armoire, and stained the same way. In fact, all the wood was like that, and many of the colors were gold and maroon, Kagome's favorite colors, in fact…

She went down to the other side of the room and opened what she strongly suspected was the bathroom door. It was a sliding door with cris-crossed wood that was stained maroon with golden paper. She sighed. It wouldn't be long before she got tired of these colors.

The bathroom was immaculate. It had no stains, not spots, and no sign of previous use. It was sparkling willow, brighter than she'd ever seen before, with bright gold faucets on the tub, and another door leading out of it with the same type of sliding door as before. However none of this got her attention as much as the window.

This window was a stained glass piece, adorned with jewels anywhere that would fit, so it was a blue topaz sky, and a deep sapphire sea, with an emerald landscape, and a ruby sun setting gently over the sea. However it was completely recognizable what it was, there was no guessing like the other stained glass pieces she'd seen before.

It was a woman with black hair, and amber eyes, holding a baby in her arms and looking out over the sea as if contemplating weather or not to jump.

The breath caught in Kagome's throat. She _knew_ she'd seen that woman before… She couldn't figure out where, though…

The woman's hair was long, and was blown in front of her face, which was streaked with tears. This was unreal. How could there he so much meaning, so much detail in _glass_? The woman looked kind of like Kagome with amber eyes…

Kagome stared at if for a while, uncaring about how much time. It was beautiful. It shed specks of light al over, and if anyone had been there to see, they would have seen the woman's face projected onto Kagome's…

…

The picture came to life. Kagome was not worried. She realized she was in a dream, so she had absolutely no fear.

The woman cried. Her tears were unreal, as everything around her was. There was no background, just the woman, holding the baby.

"I am sorry…" Said the woman. "I cannot keep running, Kagome." She set the child down. "Even though he is vile, he can give you a better life than I will ever be able to give. I am sorry." The woman looked over the sea. "I have betrayed our lord, and in doing I have betrayed your father. I promised him I would be safe, and I would keep you safe, but…" Her voice trailed off. "He was not your father, really. I have betrayed everything I once believed… And I dragged you here to suffer the consequences with me…" A little hand reached out of the bundle, and the woman grabbed it. "I am so selfish… What could I have been thinking?"

"Hey, wake up!" Said the baby with a gruff, masculine voice. Kagome felt as if she was being shaken.

…

"I said wake up!" Said a rather irritated voice, still shaking her by the shoulder. Kagome opened her eyes slowly, seeing the figure. It was a man, and was wearing the customary red of the guards. She noticed a spear was propped up against the armoire, and he had a sword at his belt.

"Wha…?" She said. The man glared. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but then again higher-ranking guards never did; it was part of their uniform. He had a see-through drape that was gold, and it came up on one side, getting thinner and thinner at the top until it tapered off into a strap on the opposite shoulder. His pants looked rather like her Harem pants, however they were _not_ see-through, and they rose up nearly to his knees. She couldn't remember what they were called, if she'd even been told. They ruffle of the Thing-Trying-To-Be-A-Shirt draped his waist, covering where the pants ended there. His silvery-white hair was draped across his back and shoulders, catching the light from everything around, and if it could, it would have been torturing it, Kagome felt. The man's eyes were gold, sparkling and true, and he had dog-ears on the top of his head.

"Come on! Could a person be denser? Never seen a male before!" He snapped. The deepness of his voice shocked her. Kagome had seen very few men in her life. She didn't realize they could be so rude. "Wake up! You have an audience with out Lord himself."

Kagome coughed. "Are you the prince?" She asked. Then, after ample thought added, "O slayer of evils?" The man rolled his eyes.

"No." He said. "Just a guard." Her snatched up his spear and motioned her out of the room. As she stood and walked she wondered why a demon was a mere guard. Normally the demons were royalty of some sort or another, and they had worked to keep it that way. In fact there wasn't a single demon that wasn't accepted into the royal family that Kagome had ever heard about. She shrugged that thought aside and followed the man. She passed amazing hallways, and other things that she would have marveled at under any other circumstance, however currently she was going to see the Emperor… Not a good thing, she decided.

At the end of one of the halls she saw the demon stand at attention, spear in hand, against the wall. She reached out to open the doors in front of her, but they were swept aside, smoothly. Her jaw dropped as she entered the Throne room.

Everything had been decorated with gold, and adorned with jewels anywhere they would fit. The room look busy, and really, _really_ tacky, but somehow managed to look tasteful at the same time. There was only glass as a ceiling, and there were huge pillars that must have just been decoration. Everything thing looked pristine and new, sparkling around her. The throne its self was not only covered in the same things, but draped in fabrics that _must_ have been magical.

There was a man on the throne. She knew his name; everyone knew his name. The Emperor regarded her carefully as she fell into a bow.

"What do you ask of me, O Great Lord, and Savior of all Souls?" She could hear her voice quaver.

"Stand." Said Kouga. Kagome did so. She looked straight at Emperor Kouga, his dusty blue eyes, his shining black hair, his delicately tanned skin, everything about him made sure you knew you were dealing with a demon; someone better at everything than you were. "What is your name?" Said Kouga, glaring intently at her forehead, as if looking into her mind.

"Higurashi Kagome, daughter of Higurashi Ai, O Supreme Ruler." She said. Kouga stood up, his costume jingling as he did so. He inspected her closely, but she kept her stare focused on the throne, as she'd been taught.

"I believe you to be what we are looking for." Said Kouga. Kagome flinched, but refused to let it show. Kouga smiled, then continued, his voice becoming velvety, and sweet, soothing her to no end as he explained further. "You see, my astronomers recently found a prophecy in the sky." He said with a chuckle. Kagome found herself wishing he would speak more, and he did. "And it said that there would be a woman who was the child of love, or 'Ai', as it is in Japanese, whom I must wed. It told several signs of how to find you, and you matched all those signs." He circled around to face her, and touched her chin. She could feel his hands were soft, and yet there was something repulsive about them.

"InuYasha!" Said Kouga sharply, causing Kagome to flinch. The same demon entered the room and bowed, silently. He then recovered from his stoop and looked questioningly at Kouga. Kouga looked to Kagome as he spoke. "Escort her back to her new quarters." He said. InuYasha nodded, and began to move, but Kouga continued to speak. "And you will be her personal day guard. I wouldn't have some low-life human filthing up my new mate. Understood?" He asked. InuYasha nodded.

"Yes, your grace, is there anything else?" Asked InuYasha. Kouga nodded.

"Yes, I will have tutors sent to her. Sadly I cannot find demons to tutor her, but Sango will suffice, I believe. A very upstanding human, she is. After all, she is mother to my child, and one of my wives, it would be hard not to be." Said Kouga with a smile.

"Very good, you highness. As for reading, your highness?" Asked InuYasha. Kagome realized that this was a procedure. Kouga flourished his hand. There was no way that could be called a wave.

"Oh, how about Miroku? He had taught many to read. I believe that will do. A-and… Give her two demon pets, that should be good." Kouga sighed, as if going through a mental checklist. "And be sure that visits from anyone other than those I have mentioned are kept to a limit." With that he motioned InuYasha and Kagome off. They went.

"Looks like were gonna be seeing a lot of each other…" Said InuYasha after a while. Kagome sighed. "Yeah, I guess so."

**End Chapter Two**

Hope you like this chapter, I think I got a little carried away with the length, but I didn't give myself a limit on this story, so every chapter will be at least a thousand words, but they could be really, _really_ long, so be warned.

Miko-Chan


	3. Deadly Vision

Kagome sighed. She'd been doing that a lot lately. Her room had become bland, and she didn't want to be in it anymore; it was stuffy and it felt smaller than it had before. InuYasha had been posted outside, and just recently she'd found out that she had a night guard, Jinenji. She was a little shocked when she first saw him, but she refused to let herself scream at him.

She let her mind wander back to its own time, and she stood up. She'd been outfitted with the flowiest robe she could have imagined, and they annoyed her to no end. Until recently she'd thought that flowy was better in every regard.

She gripped the door handle and yanked it open. The sleeping form of InuYasha tumbled slowly to her feet, white-silver hair flowing lazily around his dog-ears. After a moment without him waking he seemed to remember something, then his eyes opened.

"What do you want?" He asked irritably, getting to his feet. Kagome thought about this. What did she want…?

"Well, to start with, a home all to myself with a nice yard and prince charming. But for now I'm bored, so tell me your deepest, darkest secret, and I'll be content till breakfast, which happened an hour ago..." She said, putting her foot down on his bare chest, restricting him from getting up without harming her. He glared up at her, clearly not amused.

"Look," He said, then after a moment gritted his teeth and added, "M'lady, you don't have any power over my personal life, nor memories or secrets. So fuck the hell off. Your tutor is on her way, so get ready." With that he rolled out of her hold and walked back out, shutting the door. Kagome sighed again. What was there to do to get ready?

…

Kagome slow thought about her journal, wondering if she should make an entry. She chewed on her pencil for a little while, then put it down to write.

--

Deer diray, Miroku mad mee leern too reed tooday. Becus uv it iy need too rite in mai jernel.

Kagome.

--

Though she knew her script was untidy, she didn't care, and she put her pencil down, closing the book and putting it away.

She sighed, and didn't want to write anymore for today. She'd only learned to read _today_ after all. She thought back over her day. Her tutors had not been what she was expecting.

Sango, her manors teacher, had brought her son, Shippo, because she didn't trust him in her brother's hands, though she loved Kohaku dearly. Kagome looked at the scorch marks on her bed. Well, at least there'd be something for her to do, if the maids didn't get there first.

Her other tutor, Miroku, was of high status, and a very wealthy man, though with this wealth he'd become – or maybe he was born – slimy. Kagome didn't really like his hand always retracing its steps to her butt. However, she had to admit, he was a good teacher, and he was a holy man, supposedly…

Life could be so cruel, Kagome thought. She sighed, and looked back at her journal.

--

Wel iy thinc iy need too gow too bed now. Slepe wil help mee. It alwais dos.

Kagome.

--

…

Kagome looked around. She was sitting at her writing desk, pencil in hand, and she was writing. The only strange thing about this scene was that she wasn't meaning to write anything. Her pencil moved of it's own free will; spelling out words that Kagome didn't know how to read. The one word she knew it was writing was 'prophesy'. Kagome didn't know how she knew that, though, since this script was in a different language.

She attempted to let go of the pencil, but pain shot through her body.

_Help!_ She tried to cry out, but she couldn't. Her voice was absorbed into the darkness around her. There was nothing in the world but her, the paper, pencil and desk. Even the desk was fading.

_Help!_ She tried again, screaming out, but this time her body didn't even move; it ignored her fear, her eyelids slid to halfway open, and she'd lost control.

Kagome heard herself scream.

She was asleep, and terrified, but she didn't know how to wake up.

_What if I can't wake up? I… I don't know how!_ She could feel tears rolling down her cheeks. There was blood all around her, and she was drowning in it. She could feel herself loosing touch with her body; dying, very slowly, but painlessly. She choked on her tears… Or was that the blood? She didn't know anymore. She was lost in deep shades of red. Somehow she saw, even in the infinite pool of blood, and untouched, fluttering golden dress, binding her to this lifeless existence, trapped in her own blood.

The world shook, and there was a low rumbling. These weren't important, though, Kagome only had a little air left, and she needed to get out of the dress quickly.

As she watched it slide down her legs the beautiful golden dress was stained with her blood, a deep maroon. Her favorite colors…

Suddenly her pencil broke, lacerating her hand. The low rumble seemed to speed up and get higher, sounding worried.

She heard herself scream again, and her eyes opened. She was all wet, and clinging to something warm. After a moment of heavy breathing she found out that she could move her arm. So she did. She also opened her eyes to see her maroon and gold room, and silver. She moved her head back so far that the rest of her body followed, and she saw, for the first time, what she was clinging to.

"I…InuYasha?" She asked, though she was to frightened to blush. InuYasha's golden eyes glowed with worry, though Kagome, even in the best of times, might not have seen it.

"It's all right…" He said, his voice coming out choppy, as if he wasn't sure it was.

Kagome was expecting a '…It was just a dream, nothing to worry about,' but it never came. Her whole body was covered in cold sweat, and her skimpy sleeping robe stuck to her skin, which was clammy. Kagome coughed into her hand, and looked up at InuYasha with an expression that said '…And?'

"Lets get you to another room, okay?" He said, lifting her up as if she weighed a feather. Kagome coughed again. "Why? I've… I've lived through bad dreams before," She said. She was a pain in her shoulders that she noticed just then, but it had been there for a while. InuYasha motioned to the walls of her room.

There were large fonts, small fonts, and words in other languages written all over Kagome's walls, and there was a snapped pencil where she had woken.

One small segment Kagome could almost read. InuYasha must have seen her staring at it, because he spoke next.

"'And so the maiden will clutch her destiny, and then the story will be written,'" He read aloud. "And that segment over there, written in Kloshi says 'Some terms will end the deal before it starts,'" He translated.

Kagome stared at the walls a little more, and coughed again. She looked at her hand, which had cuts on it. However that wasn't the most interesting thing on her hand.

She was coughing blood.

"I need…" But even finishing that sentence was too much effort, and Kagome collapsed, not dreaming.

…

Kagome opened her eyes.

_Then_ she woke up. By the time she woke up, in fact, she was standing in the middle of the room, and she had a lingering feeling that her name was Kikyo.

The girl blinked, and looked around. InuYasha was standing inside her room, in the corner by the door. Guess higher security was in order.

…

Kirara mewed. Kagome hadn't named Kirara, Kirara had named herself through Kagome, she felt. Buyo, however, she had no idea what to call Buyo other than 'fat', so she had InuYasha name Buyo for her. No one had told her what was wrong with her, but she didn't press. Kirara was unfathomably light, and sweet, and cute, and smart, and…

Buyo was fat, and fur, and Kagome had no idea how a demon cat like that would stay alive if Kirara wasn't nice to him. Buyo had a good disguise; so few people realized he was a demon. _Kirara_, on the other paw, was _clearly_ a demon. And she made it clear that she was more powerful than humans, but it was just plain easier this way, so she wouldn't bother attacking. After all, if she could get cuddles and food without blood stains, yay!

…

Kagome was sitting bolt upright, her mouth was opened in a blood-curdeling scream, and she was covered in cold sweat, yet she was still asleep.

InuYasha was in the corner, knocked off his feet and immobilized with the loud noise. There was a small choking noise as Kagome laid back with a snap and stopped screaming. InuYasha slowly got up, his ears ringing so loudly it was hard to think straight, and walked over to Kagome. Her eyes weren't open, but she was choking on something. InuYasha, with no medical training, had only a vague idea how to help, but he had the feeling that it wouldn't work this time. He gripped her shoulder so tightly that he saw his knuckles turn white just before…

InuYasha opened his eyes. He was in a colorless place that had no ground to speak of, yet he was standing on something. He tried to speak, but the sound of his voice was drained away and absorbed into the background. He turned around and saw two women, caught in a single frame of motionlessness. One of the women was wearing a red dress with strips of fabric flowing away from her in all directions except ahead of her, and her hair was long, spead out behind her as if she'd just leaped onto the other woman. She also had skin so fare, so white, that InuYasha later would have sworn she was some beautiful snowman.

The other woman looked younger, and not quite as well developed, but otherwise much the same. She had the same cute and perfectly shaped nose, the same full, yet not obtrusive lips, and the same large, almond shaped eyes, but the color was different; frozen blue. Kagome sat there, with hands around her neck. InuYasha could barely make out the third figure that was strangling her before he was stretched and thrown out of this little realm.

…InuYasha sat bolt upright and had to remember who he was for a moment, and what he was doing. He looked down at Kagome's face and saw that her dream, whatever it was, had ended, and she was resting peacefully. InuYasha put his hand on his mouth and took a deep breath, letting it out in a long sigh, then removed his hand to wipe the sweat away.

He walked over to the door and opened it.

"Jinenji," He said quietly to the Hanyou sitting by the door.

"Yes?" Jinenji answered after a moment of his ears sending signals, and is brain sending them back.

"Watch Kagome for a little while for me, would you? I need to check something…" He said. Jinenji would have been shocked at InuYasha politeness there, if Jinenji had been spoken to by InuYasha any time before that. InuYasha, however, was shocked at his own sincerity of being polite, and he _had_ spoken to InuYasha before.

He found himself at Kagome's old room, which had been untouched for study. He looked for another piece of writing that he'd seen before.

"'And the lovers will look into each other's minds, one by one, two will be one,'" He read aloud.


	4. Stories

Kagome's mind wasn't in any kind of disarray. Quite the contrary, really. She smiled at her room. Its coloring was different this time; light purples and greens, along with maroon and cobalt. She'd asked for the picture hadn't been in her bathroom before, and after some disgruntled argument from InuYasha, he had it done for her. It was installed in the new bathroom, and another was being drawn up somewhere in the under works of the palace. She walked along the room, her hand feeling each of the walls, showing her nothing she didn't already know.

She sat down at her desk, daring herself to write. What would she write? Another Journal entry? After what happened _last_ time? Not likely. She picked up the pencil, and wrote. It wasn't brilliant, but she wanted to tell a story. She started it with the female lead named Kikyo in love. It was generally a silly way to _start_ a story, but she didn't really care.

"_Kikyo walked silently through the halls of the Harem, wistfully thinking about her life. She was nothing special, just a Harem girl, like any other. There _was _one difference, though slight; she was in love. She was sixteen now, but she'd fallen in love. With who, you ask? A demon! Truly someone revered, even though only a mere scribe. It was sad, though, that she was not going to be able to marry for any reason short of a prophesy demanding she marry him._"

Kagome looked up from her paper, roused by the sound of a knock at the large doors.

"Hello?" She quavered. There was no answer. She stood up and walked to the door, yanking it open. Sango was there, this time without Shippo. They started right in on their lesson. However all throughout Sango looked a little tense, and as if she felt like more things should be burnt.

…

It hadn't been a long wait before Miroku walked into the room. He inquired politely after her studies, but she replied saying that she hadn't actually done anything since the last two journal entries, which happened to be the first two. He looked slightly disappointed, but asked if she'd done any other practice.

"Well," she said, glancing at her desk. "I actually _did_ do something a little while ago. Just before Sango arrive, actually…" She admitted. Miroku brightened up, and bounded over to the desk to inspect it. He looked at it thoughtfully for a few moments before looking back up.

"Well, I can see absolutely no misspellings, or grammatical errors of note. I think you're cheating," he said with a smile. Kagome chuckled.

"I assure you, I am doing no such thing."

"Something Sango taught you to say?"

"More or less, though modesty for her sake permit me to say nothing more on the subject," she said, teasingly. Miroku smiled again, looking over the paper.

"Well," he said, scanning it up and down a few more times. "I'd like you to write more of this, as your assignment. It seems you have a message you want to convey, and I'd be more than pleased to read it. It's a passion of mine, as you well know." With that, Miroku continued the rest of the lesson, ignoring the page from that point forward. It wasn't long at all before she was done with her lessons for the day, and was no longer entertained. She sighed, and sat back down to her desk.

The door creaked open and InuYasha entered. He was, of course, under orders to do so, but something about him made her think he seemed uneasy. He was a little jumpier, for example. When she dropped her pencil he'd nearly attacked it. This, she assumed, was as good a reason as any to get entertainment.

"So," she began, unsure how to finish with the result she wanted. "Why are you acting so… easily startled?" she asked. Blunt, she thought, blunt, but effective.

"None of your business," He mumbled half-heartedly. She was at the very least expecting to argue with him, but instead he set his eyes to the study of her ceiling, which personally she didn't find that interesting. He, however, wouldn't be dissuaded from it. She sighed once again, and decided to make her bed. Again. She tore of the covers, one by one, then the sheets, and then the pillowcases. And then she started to put them back on, when,

"Are you really _that_ bored?" InuYasha asked.

"Yes. There's no padding it, there's no further explanation. I'm so fed up I could burst if I thought that would save me even a moment of monotony!" She screeched. It had started out vaguely calm, but by the end she could hold no more of her boredom from becoming rage. She slumped back in her chair, slightly surprised that she'd gotten out of it at any point. "I don't know what to _do_! I thought _anything_ would be better than being a Harem girl, but you know, I think I was so wrong. Harem girls have it easy," she whimpered. InuYasha sighed.

"Look," he said, biting back an insult. "You're going through the purification, not all royal life will be this dull."

"I may not last that long, though!" cried Kagome, drooping backwards. InuYasha shook his head, but remained silent.

Kagome stood up with a snap after a while of waiting, then went back to her desk to write more. She'd gotten through several dull, plot-setting scenes thinking hard about them, then she wrote part of it that she really liked.

"_Kikyo smiled up at Sesshoumaru. He looked back at her, coldly. Kikyo watched his expression melt as he saw her smile, and she ran to him, embracing him tightly._

"_Sesshoumaru," she said, tears in her eyes. "Is it true? You've truly reached a higher rank? How? You're a duke! How ever did you manage? Will you be able to take me away?" she asked, getting more and more exited as she went. Shesshoumaru's expression froze over again._

"_Kikyo, I married into my title," he informed her sadly. Kikyo's expression didn't change, so he continued. "Only the Emperor may marry more than once, my dearest."_

_Kikyo's heart fell. "But…" she began hopelessly. "I love you…" she said. Sesshoumaru shook his head._

"I express my gravest apologies, but rank must come before love, I fear…" 

Kagome put the pencil down. She couldn't believe what she'd just written. It didn't seem right at all! Love was supposed to conquer all! That's what she'd been told all her life! That's what she _knew_! Yet these words… These words were true, and she knew it. She turned to InuYasha, who seemed to be counting the bumps on the wall.

"InuYasha," She said suddenly. He jumped.

"What!" he said gruffly. Then, after a moment, added, "M'lady?"

"I'm new to this whole 'out of the Harem' thing, but I need to ask you something."

InuYasha sighed, and motioned for her to get on with it.

"Well, does love really come after rank?" she asked.

"Yes, in nearly every case. Is that all?" he answered simply, as if she was stupid for even asking. Her jaw would have hung open had she not carefully propped herself up on her hands just in case she was wrong. She was amazed at what she was hearing. It was absolutely true. Those who gave up everything for love were fools, and would die out in the desert, dehydrated, and with no money to buy food for them, or their love. It was astonishing, but made sense. Kagome choked back the sad tone in her voice, and shook her head in reply to InuYasha. She sighed, and went back to her desk.

End Chapter Four 

Wow! Hi all those who read all my stuff. I haven't written in a while, but I'd like to think I got better since then… Anyway, I hope you like Chapter four, and I hope you like the new story I'm going to come out with soon. Anyway, yeah. Bye all.

Miko-Chan.


	5. The Tomes

Kikyo… Was that truly her name? She didn't know right now, her mind was in such a state of disarray. Her heart beat was ragged, her breathing pained, and her tears bittersweet. She looked at the picture in her hands. The picture of her love, Seeshoumaru. He wasn't a scribe any longer, and he'd chosen someone else over her. He heart cracked with pure grief, and she'd been told time, and time again that she would get better soon, though she doubted it very much. While, she _was_ crying, she refused to allow an expression of anything other than cold, uncaring dullness into her features. She looked down to her stomach. That was one way out. Though a Harem girl she was, it was still a killing offence to be pregnant unbidden, or unmarried. She would surely die, and she was aware of it. Who was the father, you may ask. Well, none other than the Emporer's right hand man, Koubuun. While Koubuun was not a cruel man in any way Kikyo knew, he would not protect her simply because it was his fault. That's not the way it worked. Kikyo looked down. She had already decided on a name. However she doubted the baby would have a chance to be born, since Sesshoumaru wasn't going to save her from this place, and claim the child as his own. Kikyo sighed. Kagome had been the name she'd picked, and she'd thought it was a good name. However, given the circumstances, she decided it would be best not to give her baby a name, only to loose it again in death.

…

The dreamer awoke with a start. Gasping for air, and groping for the glass of water on the nightstand InuYasha tried to make sense of his dream. The last few nights had cause nightmares of a similar nature, whereas Kagome, his charge in protecting, had been neglected in this regard. He sighed, calming down. This wasn't the sort of dream he usually associated with that kind of terror. Who were the characters? What did they mean?

Sesshoumaru.. He knew that name. After a moment of waking up he attempted to jog his memory. He laighed. How could he forget his brother? How could he forget the brother who had him transferred away from himself so that he would be allowed to remain alive. His brother, who through that cold exterior was an amiable man, as far as InuYasha could tell, as long as they were nowhere near each other. InuYasha shook his head, now attempting to remember Kikyo. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it… Wasn't that the name of some little whore that Sesshoumaru had played with a little? He was with her for what… A month that InuYasha knew about? That sounded about right. InuYasha shook his head, dribbling the fresh water from his lips down his chin. There was something unsettling about that dream; it had felt like a nightmare, but he didn't know why. The name Koubuun didn't ring any bells. The Emperor's right hand? Surely someone like that would be in the Tomes. InuYasha stood up quickly from his cot, then walked to his reference books. There was one there was was covered in much more dust than the others, so that's the one he grabbed. After looking through the thick volume for a while it occurred to him that he'd never read this one. He frowned slightly at that thought, but dove into the pages. It told of the endings of the second era war, and the re-building of the provines for a little while, but that didn't seem to be as important as what happened next. For several pages the book took to describing what the empire was like unruled, and such, which InuYasha came to believe was mostly fiction, or exsaduration. He flipped another page which began the story of the rise of Emperor Kouga about three-hundred years ago. After quite a while about his brilliant leadership skills, and hisamazing charisma, the book told briefly about a man named Koubuun, who seemed rather mundane. He was the chief advisor to Kouga, and he was considered a second Emperor to many. InuYasha turned another page eagerly. That was all there was on Koubuun, but the page still interested him. About fifteen years ago there was talk of Emperor Kouga saving the life of a small child who was born out of wedlock. The child was not described in any detail, but seemed to be a tool for making Kouga look saintly. The book also said that the child was sent to learn to work in the Palace. It then told of the rise of an Emperor of a different land. A different Emperor; Sesshoumaru. InuYasha groaned. There had been a reason he hadn't read this book; he knew the _real_ story…

…

Kagome woke up with an urge to write, yet she knew not what to add to her paper. It had ended so… Abruptly, and she couldn't think how to continued it. It frustrated her for some time.

InuYasha walked in. At this point she was terribly aware of her dread of seeing him. She wasn't happy about him at all… Nevertheless, Kagome forced a smile on at the sight of him, which he returned absently. Then she went back to her paper, writing of Kikyo and Sesshoumaru.

It wasn't long at her desk before Miroku had come in. He'd ushered InuYasha out of the room, as he always did, then began the lesson. It went by smoothly, with little incedent until Miroku had inquired about her progress on her story. Kagome had replied sheepishly that she had, a little, but she was stuck now.

"That's all right," said Miroku smoothly. "It happens to the best of the writers every now and then," he cooed. He then read it over. He corrected some grammatical errors, and made her re-write it, then commented on a more personal level.

"Do you know who Koubuun really is?" he'd asked her. Kagome shook her head.

"No, I thought I would go for all out fiction," she responded. Miroku looked a little impressed.

"Well, Koubuun was a powerful historical figure," he said. "He was executed by Lord Kouga for giving a woman a child without offering the protection of his power. That's a little known fact." With that, Miroku launched into a detailed version of the Tomes, giving more information than Kagome had _actually_ wanted…


	6. Tales To Tell

Three weeks! Three weeks, and not a word of inspirations for her story! It was infuriating, to say the least about it. How could she ever hope to continue her learning if she couldn't write anything?

She scuffed her shoe a little. InuYasha hadn't been around for two of these weeks, and she really wanted him to be, if for no other reason than she didn't feel guilty about making fun of him.

There was a knock on the door. "Go away," she moaned, even though she was desperate for the company, regardless whom it was. There were muffled whispers behind the door.

"Kagome!" said one of the voices. "Kagome, it's Ayumi and Eri! You know, those people you used to fight with over who got the last falafel?" Kagome rushed up to the door, and jerked it aside eagerly. She stared at her friends, eyes welling up with tears. Ayumi hadn't chanced at all; she was still wobbling, even holding still. Eri, her sadistic sense of humor, was unmistakable, for only she could say something like that; they never got falafel!

"Whoa, Kagome, what's wrong?" Eri said, stepping into her room with Ayumi in close tow. The door was shut.

"Oh, I missed you two!" she said, throwing her arms around the girls before her. Ayumi, once let go, fell promptly to the floor.

"Oh, I missed you, too!" said Eri in matching tones, clearly mocking her. They stooped to pick up Ayumi, who said a half hearted 'hi' from the ground.

"It's dreadful here!" said Kagome, plopping down in one of her chairs. The other two sat opposite her.

"That bad, eh? It sure _looks_ nice enough."

"Yeah, it's really pretty here, and these chairs are so comfortable. And Eri, what's a falafel?" asked Ayumi. Eri giggled.

"Something we don't get, but I bet Kagome does!" said Eri, teasingly. Kagome shook her head.

"Curry," said Kagome. "And rice. That's all I get to eat. I'm getting to the point where I'd kill for some nan, even!" she cried.

"Wow, it really _is_ that bad."

"Worse," said Kagome. "But enough about me. What about you two?"

"Well, we have a new guard, and Ayumi managed to do some dancing properly, if only for a few minutes," said Eri with a shrug. "But we have a surprise for you!" she said, ignoring Ayumi's slightly hurt expression. Eri leapt up, and tore open the door. Standing in the doorway was Yuka. She looked worn, her hands had some callous from working and she showed signs of under nourishment, as well as a slightly swollen stomach. Yuka slowly walked in, whereas normally she would have dashed in to see Kagome, to hug her, and to generally act exited.

"Yuka!" Kagome cried, walking to her. It wasn't until she hugged the other girl that Kagome realized how fragile she was. Kagome glanced at Eri with an expression of worry that Eri didn't seem to notice.

"Well, that's all of us. All back together again, for a little while, at least," said Eri, triumphantly. "So, what do you do for fun here?" asked Eri. Kagome stared at her blankly.

"Nothing," she said, eventually.

"Wow. But, you were always easy to entertain, so that's something!" said Ayumi cheerfully. No one in the room could tell if she was being sincere, or sarcastic. Kagome made inquires after Yuka's well being in particular, as specially because the others didn't seem to notice her health. She replied to every one of her inquiries that everything was well, and currently she and Hojo were trying for a baby. Kagome bit her lip looking at Yuka's stomach. It was swollen already, and everything else about her suggested that she wasn't carrying around fat. Sango's voice rang in her head, telling her not to prove anyone wrong, for that was rude.

"So," said Kagome, after a while. "The new guard, anything cool?" she asked, eager for something to talk about.

"Well, we've only had him for about two and a half weeks, but he's handsome, and strong!" said Ayumi, blushing.

"And he's demonic!" squealed Eri. "But he always looks tired, and a little worried," she said, her tone settling.

"Really?" Asked Kagome brightly; this was a promising topic. "What's he like? What's he look like?" she asked.

"Well, we never talk to him, because he has a really terrifying glare…" said Ayumi, meekly.

"She's not kidding! I know you're thinking, 'oh, Ayumi's scared of everything', but he really is scary!" said Eri. Kagome looked surprised that Eri was scared of someone, and allowing anyone to know.

"But he really is handsome, too. He has silver-white hair, like a lot of demons, _molten_ gold eyes, and he's so muscular…" said Ayumi, nearly swooning at every comma. "And… Oh, Eri, what was his name?" she added, coming back down to earth.

"InuYasha…" said Kagome.

"Yes! Kagome, how did you know?" asked Ayumi. Kagome nodded slightly.

"He guards—Err, I guess he used to guard, my room," she said. Suddenly Eri paled, her eyes wide. Kagome was about to ask her what was wrong when Ayumi began to talk again.

"Oh, really? What a coincidence, don't you think, Eri? It just so happens that he got to close to a woman he was guarding, and so Lord Kouga posted him in the Harem instead, because he didn't want them to fall in love!" said Ayumi. "Isn't that strange?" she said, giggling slightly. Kagome went even paler than Eri.

"Oh, Kagome," said Ayumi. "You look awful! What's wrong?" she asked. At this point Eri had enough presence of mind to jab Ayumi with her elbow before she said anything more. Kagome took a little longer to think.

"And… Um…" she stammered. "How do you know?"

"Well!" said Ayumi, before anyone could stop her. "He fell asleep on his feet for a moment – a little while later he woke up as if from a night mare, but that's not the point - And the other guard told us as we came near to try and wake him up so he wouldn't get in trouble. When we told the other guard that we were just trying to help, the other guard told us, 'oh, he's already in trouble,' and told us the story. Oh, and he told it really well. I thought it was a magnificent story as he was telling it, and he also told us—Ooff! Eri I—Oh… He also, uh, told us to, uh, brush our, uh… teeth! …Yes, teeth! I remember very distinctly that he said teeth," she said, rubbing her side. Yuka looked at Kagome meaningfully.

"So," said Eri, glaring slightly at Ayumi, who flinched. "Are you then? Falling in love, that is," she asked.

"No way in all the hells!" said Kagome, allowing herself to slip from politeness.

**End Chapter Six**

So, I hope you like it, and I will try to write this one some more, as well, but currently I'm writing some original fiction, and I think it's way better than anything I've wrote so far, so I'm going to devote most of my attention to that. But, if you see something come out from Ariane Wanless and Emyli Poltorak, then that's us. But I think I'll be writing more of this, if I have time.

Miko-Chan.


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